@fabriciogcbh : thanks a bunch! This is exactly what I was looking for. I only have one problem - the thread starter didn't list what version of SSA he's using. The reason this is important is that SSA underwent a major revision as of 4.0 (now better known as Advanced SubStation Alpha, or ASS for short) and it is not backwards compatible. I'm downloading the files now to check what subtitle stream they're using, but it would've been nice if this info was in the post.

EDIT: I have been informed that the drop.io links no longer work. You can get the entire collection in two parts here: part 1, part 2

All current-generation streamers can play standard encodes with ease. They'll all do Divx/Xvid and h.264 DVD rips with AC3 or MP3 audio. Nearly all will do reasonable BD rips as well. It's only when you get to the really high-end encodes or uncommon stuff that you can run into compatibility issues.

Below is a collection of test files to determine the limits of a given device. I've tried to cover all the bases, but if something is missing, please let me know. All files have been uploaded to drop.io because they're one of the few file hosts that doesn't have annoying transfer limits, capchas or timers. Once I'm sure there's nothing worth testing that isn't included, I'll bundle it up into one big pack.

If anybody can point me to small (under 300MB if possible) DVD and BD ISOs with menus and/or a short clip with 7.1 FLAC, I'd love to add them.

I checked the SSA file that you posted - indeed, it does actually contain SSA v4.0 subs (aka ASS). You might want to add that information to the post, as many players do not list that they support 4.0, as it is very different from earlier versions.

EDIT: I have been informed that the drop.io links no longer work. You can get the entire collection in two parts here: part 1, part 2

All current-generation streamers can play standard encodes with ease. They'll all do Divx/Xvid and h.264 DVD rips with AC3 or MP3 audio. Nearly all will do reasonable BD rips as well. It's only when you get to the really high-end encodes or uncommon stuff that you can run into compatibility issues.

Here is what is included in this collection of test files to determine the limits of a given device. I've tried to cover all the bases, but if something is missing, please let me know.

M2TS: Standard 1080p M2TS ripped from a blu-ray

DVR-MS: Microsoft's old proprietary TV recording format

WMV9: 1080p WMV9 video with 5.1 WMA audio

HDTV: 1080i 60hz HDTV rip, no audio

AVCHD: 1080p M2TS from a Sony HD camcorder

Improper encode: The infamous Planet Earth clip with an absurd 16 reframes. The bird scene stutters even on high end PCs

Improper encode: The infamous Planet Earth clip with an absurd 16 reframes. The bird scene stutters even on high end PCs - (19mbps-1080p-24fps-L5.1-16ref-improper.mkv) - Played almost perfectly. There is almost unoticeable stuttering at the very beginning of the clip, one noticeable but very short (~0.5 second?) in the middle of the bird scene.

Dolby TrueHD: 7.1 lossless TrueHD audio - (30mbps-L4.1-TrueHD.m2ts) - Played perfectly, but no audio. The audio track was recognized by the player as TrueHD 6ch 48KHz 640Kbps. According to the manual "Media Player does not decode audio with DTS format, but pass through to S/PDIF for external AV amplifier". Would it bitstream TrueHD? Unfortunately, I don't have a reciever to test this.

5.1 FLAC + SSA: Multichannel FLAC audio and SSA subs including complex styles and transitions - (L4.1-8ref-6ch-FLAC-SSAsubs.mkv) - Played perfectly, but no audio. Subs are fine, I can see the outlining of the subs are changing

RMVB: Real Video variable bitrate Unknown if it is RM9 or RM10, as they both use the same header (RV40) - (SD-25fps-RV40.rmvb) - The file is invisible to the player (expected as it's not supported by Sigma chip)

TRP: 1080p Kaon DVB Transport Stream with dual AC3 audio - (15mbps-1080p-L4.0-4ref-dualAC3.trp) - Played perfectly with some audio issues. Takes long to start, there is an audio noise for a split moment at start and after there is no sound. If you switch to the second audio track and back to the first one, the audio starts playing with no problems to the end of the file. The second audio track appears to be empty.

I would love to get some of these test files,I have given up codec packs for good and gone ffdshow all the way.I use this machine for transcoding and like to keep it clean and with a proper chain.After the megaupload "incident" these links have been seized by the FBI,does anyone have any other links or sites to share?